Just a few hours before the historic bombing of the Center for International Affairs on October 14, 1970, the Harvard Coop dropped a bomb of its own.

Citing low earnings and increased shoplifting, then-Coop President Milton P. Brown '40 announced the store would slash its rebate by more than 50 percent.

The Coop has traditionally refunded its members a set fraction of the amount it spends on purchases during the school year.

The yearly figure for the rebate has varied, depending on the profits made by the Coop during the previous year.

Current Harvard students, however, are quite accustomed to receiving little or no rebate.

Coop members did not receive a rebate during the 1994-95 school year, although students were given a 10 percent refund on book purchases in the fall semester. The Coop did not give any rebate or refund during the 1995-96 academic year.

Current troubles notwithstanding, 1970's rebate slashing was unprecedented. The year also marked the first time Coop officials in the 1970s remember facing serious financial difficulties.

"From the point of view of earnings and patronage refund, this has been the worst year in the modern history of the society," Brown told The Crimson in the fall of 1970.

Although 1971 marked the most dramatic reduction, rebates had been dropping slowly in the preceding years. In 1965 the rebate was 10 percent for cash purchases and 8 percent for credit purchases. Rates dropped to 8 and 6 percent respectively in 1966 and then again to 7.5 and 5.5 percent in 1969.

But in 1970, the Coop announced that it would be cutting rates to 3 and 1 percent respectively, the lowest rebates in recent years.

The Coop's management gave several reasons for the reduction. The store experienced a 40 percent increase in shoplifting during the 1969-70 academic year. Coop security guards apprehended an average of one-and-a-half shoplifters per day that year, The Crimson reported.

In addition, the Coop faced both a business depression and increases in wages. The $30,000 cost to revise the Coop's bylaws and to hold the first annual elections for student directors added to its financial difficulties.

Brown cited other reasons for the Coop's precarious 1970 financial position--including internal pilferage, new charging policies, the cost of expansion and "parking difficulties" outside the building.

Despite all these problems, Coop executives seemed optimistic that the situation could be improved and the rebate restored.

"We'll bounce back this year," Alexander Zavelle, Coop general manager, told The Crimson in 1970. "At this time next year we will have a big surprise for everyone."